AJAX -- Liberal leader Justin Trudeau spent the afternoon in Ajax on Monday taking questions from residents and drumming up support for his party and his 2015 bid for the Prime Minister’s job.

The Liberal leader spoke at a luncheon event organized by the Ajax-Pickering Board of Trade at the Ajax Convention Centre on Beck Crescent.

Mr. Trudeau took questions from the audience and while they covered a range of topics, including his views on education and economic issues, two of the questions dealt with the future of the federally owned Pickering airport lands.

The Liberal leader did not take a position on whether an airport should be built.

“I am not in a position to say whether or not I think the airport should go forward,” he said. “I’m very much in the position to say the federal government needs to be active in establishing a plan, in creating a framework for the kinds of consultations and business plans and growth strategies that would surround such a significantly important infrastructure investment.”

Mr. Trudeau said he believed in “social licence” for major infrastructure projects meaning that the public should be part of determining whether a project should go forward and how.

Pressed on the issue in an interview following his speech, Mr. Trudeau said there needs to be a strategic plan that factors in the business advantages of an airport, the impact on the population, the impact it will have on transportation and infrastructure and where air travel is headed in the 21st century.

“What is the big picture within which this will fit and then residents will be better able to see if it’s something that’s worthwhile, something that’s going to be beneficial to the region as many proponents say it will,” he said.

On the marijuana issue, Mr. Trudeau has been attacked in ads for his support of legalizing the drug.

Mr. Trudeau said Canada has the highest rate of teen marijuana use among 29 developed countries and said it’s easier for kids to access marijuana than in other countries.

“It’s certainly easier for them to buy a joint than it is for them to buy a beer or in many cases a cigarette,” he said. “So, our system is broken and what I’ve said is we need to regulate and control marijuana by legalizing it to keep it out of the hands of drug dealers, out of the hands of kids by requiring people to show ID in a controlled fashion before they can buy it.”

He said another advantage of legalization is that it removes a significant revenue stream from organized crime and gangs.

During the last federal election, the Liberals lost their foothold in Durham Region when Dan McTeague and Mark Holland were defeated in Pickering-Scarborough East and the Ajax-Pickering ridings respectively.

“I’ve been crisscrossing this country talking to people in areas that used to be Liberal and in areas that have never been Liberal and talking about the kind of future we need to build together and that relationship of trust and service that I think needs to characterize the federal government and I think it’s something people across the country are hunkering for.”

Following his speech, Mr. Trudeau was asked by the national media about his use of the f-word at a charity boxing tournament last weekend.

“I guess I let my emotions run a little hot, but rest assured I got a talking-to at home from Sophie,” he said referring to his wife Sophie Gregoire.

Mr. Trudeau also visited the General Motors engineering centre in Oshawa on his visit to Durham.